ESSAYS IN LABOR AND DEVELOPMENT

    

I worked on two chapters studying the labor markets in Colombia and Iraq. My third chapter analyzed health outcomes in the US. 

My first chapter examines whether the three-year gap between the announcement (in 2014) and the start (in 2017) of the Illicit Crop Substitution Program (ICSP) increased child labor in Colombia. My results from a difference-in-differences model using differences in historical coca production show that due to the ICSP announcement, children became four percentage points more likely to work in municipalities with historical coca production than in non–coca-growing areas. 

My second chapter ran a randomized control trial and a double-incentivized resume rating to elicit the preferences of employers and job seekers for candidates and vacancies in Iraq. After revealing the ob offer rate for female job seekers, women applied for jobs by three more percentage points than the men in the control group. This paper highlights the value of revealing employers’ preferences to improve the match between female candidates and employers when women underestimate the chances of finding a job. 

In my third paper, I study how removing the black box warning on Chantix, a prescription drug used to reduce nicotine consumption, affects veterans’ visits to smoking cessation therapy. Using a difference-in-differences model, I found that veterans schedule almost two more medical consultations in counties with high-quality hospitals than in places with low-quality medical care centers.